Numerous devices are available for "dressing" welding electrode tips particularly in view of the increase in robotic welding. For example, one type of electrode "dressing" device utilizes an air motor which is attached to a mounting member, both of which are contained within a housing. The housing can move laterally with respect to the mounting member and the air motor, and such relative lateral movement causes the actuation of the air motor which, in turn, drives the welding tip cutters. Another type of "dressing" device utilizes a stationary housing, and the mounting member, which is attached to the air motor, is allowed to move laterally with respect to the housing. Here again, such relative lateral movement between the housing and the mounting member causes the actuation of the air motor and the rotation of the welding tip cutters. In either case, the air motor is not integrally formed to the mounting member or the housing and thus can be easily removed from the device. It has been found that this ease of removal encourages theft of the air motor which has been a serious problem, particularly in industrial applications. In addition, in the foregoing types of "dressing" devices, the longitudinal axis of the air motor is perpendicular to the direction of travel of the housing or the mounting member, depending on which of these components moves relative to the other. In any event, this perpendicular orientation necessitates the use of a bevel gear arrangement on the output shaft of the air motor so that the welding tip cutters are parallel to the direction of travel of the housing with respect to the mounting member, or vice versa. Such parallelism is required for the proper operation of the "dressing" device. It has been found that such bevel gears are subject to shock loading, etc resulting in fatigue and premature gear failure.
Because of the foregoing, it has become desirable to develop an electrode "dressing" device wherein the air motor is integrally formed within the device and which does not require bevel gears in the output gear train that drives the welding tip cutters.